Ohio University expects to offer one of four candidates its Associate Vice President for Student Affairs and Dean of Students position this week, after a month of on-campus interviews.
Each of the four candidates was invited to the university in January for a three-day visit that included open forums for staff and students, a meeting with members of the search committee and dinner with Kent Smith, vice president for Student Affairs.
Two candidates, Mamta Accapadi of the University of Texas at Austin and Ryan Lombardi of Duke University, received especially positive reviews from those who attended the open forums, said a source familiar with the evaluation forms filled out at each forum.
Accapadi is one of three finalists for the Dean of Student Life and Associate Vice President of Student Affairs position at Eastern Washington University.
OU's longtime dean of students, Terry Hogan, left the university in July to take a position at the University of Northern Iowa. An alumnus, Hogan became dean of students in 1998 and earned a $125,472 annual salary.
At the hour-long open forums for staff, held in Baker University Center, each candidate was asked to give a short presentation on hot topics in higher education before taking questions from the audience. All four candidates also spent an hour with students, soliciting feedback and answering questions.
Brian Nichols, assistant dean of students at Texas A&M-Commerce, discussed campus speech codes. OU created a committee to revise its Use of Outdoor Space policy, which sparked a number of small protests last year from students who say it restricts free speech.
The more you put in writing on free speech on campus
the more trouble you can find yourself in Nichols said, adding that the only free speech policy a campus needs is the First Amendment.
In response to a question about the limits of customer service, Nichols took a hard line.
Customer service needs to be who we are rather than what we need to be trained to do Nichols said.
Brian Carlisle, assistant dean of students at UCLA, stressed that he would be candid with students and make evidence-based decisions based on data. He also touted the campus creed he'd helped create at UCLA, which he said had a positive effect on student behavior.
Carlisle recounted mediating a dispute between the president of UCLA's College Republicans and the president of its Black Student Union after an affirmative action bake sale turned into a heated argument. After his intervention, Carlisle said the BSU president, who had ripped down posters and disrupted the bake sale, apologized to the president of the College Republicans, who Carlisle described as an unpleasant
ornery person.
Lombardi, associate dean of students at Duke University, told students that he would support giving more discretion to judiciaries in determining punishment and creation of an alcohol amnesty policy.
Asked how he would handle budget cuts, Lombardi said he would rank programs run by Student Affairs and preserve funding for those deemed most important. If hired, Lombardi said he would be readily accessible to students.
If the only time you see me is in my office
send me packing
because I'm not doing my job
Lombardi said.
Accapadi is the only woman among the final four and also the only candidate with a doctorate. She is currently the director of the multicultural information center at the University of Texas at Austin, where she earned all three of her degrees.
I think I'm a healthy troublemaker
I'd say that right up front
Accapadi said of her willingness to consider new ideas and break with tradition. During the staff session, she stressed her experience working with racial and ethnic minorities, boosting retention and hearing discrimination cases.
During the student question-and-answer session, Accapadi said she would like to live on campus, if selected for the position, to get a feel for student life in Athens.
Asked her stance on medical amnesty policies for alcohol, Accapadi said she was not familiar with such policies. After several students explained the concept to her, Accapadi expressed tentative support for the idea.
The search committee met last week to discuss the candidates after the on-campus interviews ended. Though Smith said he would like the chosen candidate to start as soon as possible, he added that he does not expect any of the candidates to be available until after the end of the academic year.
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